By Rebecca Reza, RadioTour

Marlies Mejias of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24 outsprinted her rivals to score the first major victory of the 2024 season on stage 2 at the Tour of the Gila. Mejias had won the sprint classification a little over a week ago at Redlands Bicycle Classic but was not able to take a stage victory despite her best efforts. She crossed the finish, emotional and celebrating with her team shortly after.

“It’s not my victory but the entire team, and the hard work that they did that afforded me this win,” Mejias said.

The day had begun with the first of two intermediate sprints a little over five miles into the race. Margarita Misyurina was leading the classification at the start of the day, winning the first intermediate sprint and securing the green jersey for another day.

The first of three Queen of the Mountain sprint lines were up next. Anet Barrera took the top points crossing the sprint line first for DNA Pro Cycling. She managed to escape the field descending down the Sapillo, taking the second QOM points of the day. The points earned would move her up to third place in the classification, after the General Classification leader Lauren Stephens and her teammate Nadia Gontova.

Unfortunately, there were several crashes during the descent down the mountain. Cynisca Cycling’s Mara Roldan crashed when her wheel slipped out from under her as she was taking a turn. Roldan ultimately did make the decision to abandon the race; mostly out of precaution for a possible concussion, her team said later. Sara Poidevin also crashed but was able to get back on the bike and catch up to the main field soon after. Barrera was absorbed shortly after making the turn into the valley.

Elizabeth Dixon was next to try her hand at a solo move. She attacked after winning the second intermediate sprint and was able to maintain a gap of 1:15 for the entirety of the second Queen of the Mountain, even against the strong headwinds present, getting caught with only 3km to the finish.

“It was worth a shot. I think we feel a lot better,” Dixon said. “We’re a team that likes to animate the race, throwing attacks. We’re happy about our performance today and ready for the rest of the week.”

The winds, already high during the Category 3 Queen of the Mountain climb, began to kick up as what was left of the peloton began making their way up to the Freeport-MacMoran’s Chino Mine on New Mexico Highway 152. The winds were averaging 20 m.p.h., swiftly pushing back against any move that tried to escape.

Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24 began organizing at the front, taking turns fighting the wind to position Marlies Mejias for the final sprint. Emily Ehrlich, Melissa Rollins, Sofia Arreola, and Emma Langley alternated as lead rider, fighting the wind to keep the pace high.

As the front group made the right turn heading back into Fort Bayard, Mejias bolted to the finish, out-sprinting Yanina Kuskova (Tashkent Cycling) in second and the red leader’s jersey, Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Cycling). Stephens still holds on to her overall lead, extending it to 46 seconds ahead of Nadia Gontova (DNA Pro Cycling).

“It was quite windy coming into the finish,” Stephens said. “We stayed safe all day for the most part. Unfortunately, we had Mara [Roldan] crash on the descent, which was tough on the team to lose her. Luckily, she’s okay, so she’ll be back soon.”

Stage 3 is set for the Tyrone Time Trial, one that Stephens has won before.

“I’m really looking forward to the time trial,” Stephens said. “It was nine years ago that I won the time trial, which shows you how long I’ve been doing this. I really hope to earn another stage win.”

Kristen Taylor will be the first rider for the pro women to roll out of the start house at 10:30 a.m. for Milton Women’s U23 Project.